Belle b



(No Model.)

B. B. MQOULLOGH.

TYPE WRITERS ERASING SHIELD.

N0. 391,419. Patented 0013.23, 1888.

Imje 111m; (Mu (5.706 1 L, E m fi m2 llNrrae STATES PATENT @rrrcar BELLE B. MOCULLOOH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TYPE-WRITERS ERASiNG Si-HELD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391. 119, dated October 23, 1888. Application filed December 1, 1887. Serial No. 256,648. (No moilclJ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BELLE B. MoCULL-ocH, of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Type-WVriters Erasing-Shield, of which the following is a specification, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device by means of which mistakes made by an operator upon a type-Writing machine can be easily and quickly corrected without affecting the adjoining letters or words and without detracting from the general appearance of the written sheet.

It is a well'known fact that to erasea letter or punctuation-mark inadvertently written, without at the same time erasing a greater or less portion of the adjoining letters, requires great care and consumes considerable time, owing to the close spacing of the letters and the softness of the paper usually employed. Again, as the corrections are usually made before the ink is thoroughly dry, there is great danger oi'smcaring the adjacent portions of the sheet during such operation, and it freq uentl y becomes necessary to rewrite the whole page from this cause. Ihave found that these difficulties can be entirely obviated by the use ofa shield which covers that portion of the shectin which the letter or letters to be erased are located, said shield having an orifice to expose the particular matter to be removed to the action of the erasing medium.

My invention therefore consists in the erasing-shield hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the shield. Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof, taken upon line :0 a of Fig. '1. Figs. 3 and 4 show slightlymodified forms of the shield.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the letter A designates the shield, which is composed of a thin plate of brass or other suitable material, substantially rectangular in shape, and having therein the several orifices designated bythe numerals 1 to 7, inclusive. The upper surface of the plate around said orifices is beveled, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, to facilitate the use of the eraser. The orifice 1 is adapted to expose for erasure several Words at once, while those numbered. from 2 to 7 are of various sizes to permit the erasure of one, two, or more letters and of punctuation -marksorifice 6, for v example, being used when it is desired to remove a single letter, the plate being so disposed upon the paper that the particularletter will be exposed by said orifice, while those upon either side thereof will be covered.

The operation of the device is as follows: Upon the discovery of an error in the written matter, the plate A is placed upon the sheet in such position that the letter, mark, or word to be erased will be exposed by one of the orifices therein, and the erasure is made in the usual manner. The adjoining letters being covered by the plate, the erasure can be very quickly performed without danger of removing any portion of said letters, and the plate being of sufficient size to support the hand while making the erasure the smearing ofany portion of the sheet during such operation is avoided. The beveled surface of the plate around the orifice greatly facilitates the application of the eraser to the paper, whether the ordinary knife or rubber eraser or a cloth or sponge saturated with acid be employed. Af-

ter making the erasure the plate is removed, leaving the sheet perfectly clean, and the proper letters or words can then be insertedin lieu of those removed,

In Fig. 3 I have shown an oval plate, B, having a single orifice therein, and in Fig. 4- a substantially hexagonal plate, 0, containing several orifices of various shapes and sizes, with a view to emphasizing the fact that my invention is not confined to any particular form of plate, nor to the particular shapes or sizes of the orifices shown; butI regard the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as being the best for all purposes.

As hereinbefore stated,theplate may be made of brass or other metallic substance, or ofivory, celluloid, glass, or other material capable of withstanding the action of the eraser.

It will be observed that I thus provide a simple and inexpensive device by means of which much valuable time can be saved to an operator upon a type-Writing machine, and by which the usual damage to the appearance of the writ-ten sheet, by reason of corrections made therein, is avoided.

it is obvious that modifications other than those herein mentioned can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, a typewriters erasing-shield consisting of a metallic or other plate having one or more orifices, which are provided with beveled edges on one side of the plate, substantially as set forth.

2. As an article of manufacture, the typewriters erasing-shield herein described, consisting of a thin metallic or other plate having therein a series of orifices of different shapes and sizes, the upper surface of said plate 15 around each of said orifices being beveled, subsisting of the plate A, having therein the series 20 of orifices 1 2 3 4 5'6 7, and having its upper surface beveled about each of said orifices, substantially as set forth.

BELLE B. MOCULLOCH'.

Witnesses:

T. F. MCDONALD, E. J. GRANGER. 

